Sumithra Peries salutes the present generation of serious film
makers such as Asoka Handagama, Vimukthi Jayasundara, Prasana Vithanage, Enokaa
Sathyangani and Sathyajith Maitipe for the little space they have created in
cinema for serious films.

Although commercial film should be made to keep the industry
going, it is the good serious films that will define the characteristic of a
healthy film industry. It is the landmark productions that stand the test of
time.

In order to make film industry profitable, it is imperative to
have good commercial as well as thought-provoking serious films. People immersed
in the medium search for new vistas, new subjects and new audiences. She wishes
that they may have sponsors for their work to be continued.

She hopes that generation of film makers would emerge to enrich
the filmdom and to keep the cinema alive with quality and perception that would
explore the recesses of life. There will be younger string of generations to
come in; for sixth and seventh generations.

Referring to "Yahaluwo" she is happy that though it is not women
centric as her earlier productions, it depicts values through the character of a
child. Those are the values that elders should emulate especially in a
multi-ethnic and multi-cultural milieu. It is one of the few films where script
was written by a woman.

The lateral kind of narrative or exploration of situation in "Yahaluwo"
at the end added up to the sum of the story and how it affects the child and the
child's innocence wins the day.

Artistic films stand test of the time

Sumithra Peries states that most of the critics in English press
read the film in that light. She is of the view that film is not a visual
extravaganza which titillates for the moment but something to be explored. The
Sinhala writers always expect to see same kind of films and not prepared to go
that extra mile. They are not trying to read films beyond the surface.

Some times film makers cannot understand the complex grammar of
shooting. When a film director composes a shot, he or she is working on one
level to shoot that scene best and also on another in that configuration, there
is another layer.

That film can be read and understood. It is purely not one and a
half hour story artificially manipulated to a climax. This should not be the
modern telling of the stories. The critics should not try to push creators into
their mould and open up and be prepared to see another way of looking at work of
art.

Even though women have been portraying diverse characters, they
have also reluctant to venture into other areas. Speaking on the strong feminist
element in her films, Sumithra Peries of the view that she made female central
character in almost all of her films (the mother, the girl, the daughter and
family relationship), though she did not subscribe to the idea of feminism in
conventional sense. Though she fought for the liberation of females from the
constrains she would have had, Sumithra did not harbour feminist attitudes.

Even in the "Gehanu Lamai" she tried to portray through Kusum's
character or Soma's character in a way social forces constraining them. How one
could become conventionally good and another immoral in conventions sense. If
the social inequalities are there, they do not get the fruit of labour.

Sumithra thinks that West had read the film in that light.
However, in Sri Lanka some of the critics made it that Sumithra had made Kusum a
victim not portraying as the person who overcame the obstacles put in her way so
that she scarified for the love of man enabling him to achieve his objectives at
her expense.

Sumithra made it in the social context that as long as social
inequalities there, whatever the circumstances may be, there is no redemption.
Even in "Ganga Addara", the father's ambition of upward social mobility and
ambition of the daughter and at the end the girl is the victim.

Sumithra of the view that the character of Mudithalatha in
"Yahalu Yeheli" is, perhaps, the most meaningful character for her. She sang up
to the moral attitude for father. Muddithalatha stood up for right attitude and
rose against the system of values.

Evocative lines like "pol gedi dahatharakatane me okkoma" (All
this is for a 14 coconuts) epitomised the gulf between the rich and the poor and
inherent ethos that dictates human relationships and even the certain
set-reactions.

In the character of "Heen Kella" in "Sagara Jalaya Madi Handuwa"
drives home the fact that if someone could not give anything for the society, he
or she could not get anything in return. Sumithra is of the view that she has
not exploited female for commercial purpose. In "Sakman Maluwa", she has seen
the story from the different perspective.

In retrospective of her career, Sumithra Peries attributed much
of her success partly due to her husband Dr. Lester James Peries and partly due
to the commitments to the craft. Sumithra had never compromised the standards
and expectations of the audience. In looking back, she is satisfied on the life
and films she made with Dr. Lester James Peries.

However, she does not believe that film is a media that can be
used for propaganda work. Apart from monitory gains, every film maker likes to
reach the work to a wider audience. Female film makers should bear in mind that
their work may benefit the females.

She is believed that challenges for women are the same and more
intense given the volatile situation of the day. She would think that making
films for female would be more difficult as capital for making films increasing
day by day.

As Sumithra Peries admitted herself it was not she who became the
first woman film director though she is the first woman technician who became a
film director. Before Sumithra ventured into cinema, two actresses namely Ruby
de Mel and Florida Jayalath made two films.

Sumithra came into the industry as a technician at a time Sinhala
films were at embryonic stage. She recollects watching two documentaries by Dr.
Lester James Peries; "Be say for thee sorry ", a documentary on the spread of
Malaria. She watched the films with a renewed interest at Olympia theatre. It
would have been her first insight into the Sinhala films.

She wanted to study cinema at Idec where most of the famous film
makers such as Francois,Traufauts. But she attended Conservatoir where she
learnt the craft of film making.

However, she had a kind of orientation to France as her brother
lived in Europe, in Spain and had also lived in a boat.

He was a very Franco-oriented against the British and Sumithra
lived for some time with him.

It was at that time, Dr. Lester James Peries was going to the
Cannes Festival with "Rekhawa". Sumithra's brother who had earlier met Lester in
Sri Lanka asked Dr. Lester James Peries to meet Sumithra and to find out what
Sumithra wanted.

After meeting Sumithra for couple of times, Lester suggested not
to wait for another year studying French instead to follow a course on 'Films
Study' at the London School of Film Studies.

As far as she could remember, Sumithra was given a letter by
Lester stating that she had worked with him to enable Sumithra to gain easy
entrance to the Film School. Though strangely, she found that she was the only
girl in the school. At the time, she found that cinema was predominantly a male
domain.

After qualifying, Sumithra, for a short stint, was sub-titling
French films into English. However, Sumithra got an important message from her
brother who said that Lester was starting a new film called "Sandeshaya" and she
has been asked to join the crew. It was a challenge for Sumithra and she went
off to Belihuloya, the location where film was shot to see a huge crew and
battalion of boys.

Apart from Lester and Willie Blake, there was Gamini Fonseka
playing the second lead character though they thought that he would be chosen to
play the lead role. In addition to portraying the second lead character, Gamini
was also the Production Manager.

The accommodation in a male dominated camp was a challenge for
Sumithra. However, she put up with Appuhami family with a request that she be
given a separate toilet, a pit toilet inside a cadjan contraption.

It was a change of milieu for Sumithra from the sophisticated one
in Europe to living in Belihuloya with leeches and having to get up in the early
morning on a rough terrain. As the crew who were dependent on light a lot, every
one of the crew got up early to catch the light in the morning.

To her it was a challenge of working with males and she
intuitively felt that she had to shelve her femininity and readily mingle with
the male crew. Sumitta Amerasinghe, Gamini and Tissa Liyanasuriya were all very
supportive.

Though she did not get a lump sum for the six months she worked
for "Sandheshaya", the experience drew her into the cinema. The initial
challenge was to get into a male dominated industry and to work as a technician.
However, her next challenge was to be a creative collaborator on a film.

This came here when Dr. Lester James planned to make the film "Gamperaliya".
Having inherited her share of the property, Sumithra sold some residual
properties to invest in Cine Lanka Ltd with Anton Wickramasinghe as its
chairman. Thus she became, perhaps, the youngest director in the company at the
age of 24.

With smile indefinable, Sumithra recalled that putting in money
into the company would tantamount to buying her rights and to be in the selected
few. She recalled with nostalgia how she was fortunate to be associated with
Wimalaweera era.

Above, all "Sandeshaya" gave her the hand-on-experience and also
had experience in editing with a nearly broken down machine at Titus
Thotawatte's editing room.

As the editing equipment was very primitive, it was a laboured
process. Long hours had to be spent on editing.

The little challenges she had and opposition from the family
vanished following her eventual marriage with Dr. Lester James Peries which in a
way consolidated her position in the filmdom.